Hi Ashley,
Thanks a lot for your query and we are so sorry about the trouble this must have caused.
Could you please check the following:
1. Is the sitemap working fine in your browser? You can check that by going domain(.)com/sitemap_index.xml
If the sitemap is working fine, you can try validating it on this link: https://www.xml-sitemaps.com/validate-xml-sitemap.html
If the validation works, please move to the second point.
2. Have you verified the correct version of your website on Google? Please check if you have verified the www (or non-www) and https (or http) version of your website. If there is a mismatch, please fix that.
3. Finally, make sure you have cleared the cache and excluded Google bot from seeing a cached version of your sitemap.
If you have followed these and you are able to view your sitemap without any problem, then Rank Math is outputting your sitemap correctly and the error must be coming from Google. You can try and use a 3rd party sitemap plugin to confirm. Just make sure you have disabled the Sitemap module of Rank Math in WordPress Dashboard > Rank Math > Dashboard when using a 3rd party sitemap plugin.
If the other plugin works, please do let us know.
You might also want to link for troubleshooting:
https://rankmath.com/kb/fix-sitemap-issues/
Please do not hesitate to let us know if you need our assistance with anything else.
Hello,
Since we did not hear back from you for 15 days, we are assuming that you found the solution. We are closing this support ticket.
If you still need assistance or any other help, please feel free to open a new support ticket, and we will be more than happy to assist.
Thank you.
